Folding drapery



April 26, 1966 B. J. sADoFF. JR

FOLDING DRAPERY 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 26, 1963 INVENTOR. BERNARDJ. SADOFF, Jk.

A T TORNE Y5 A ril 26, 1966 B. J. SADOFF, JR 3,247,391

FOLDING DRAPERY Filed Feb. 26, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BERNARD J. SADOFEJR.

FIE-.4- BY April 26, 1966 INVENTOR. BERNARD J. $ADOFF,JR.

. ATTORNEYS United States Patent f 3,247,891 I FOLDING DRAPERY BernardJ. Sadoif, .lr., Granada Hills, Calif., assignor to Day StarCorporation, Oakland, Calif, a corporation of (California Filed Feb. 26,1963, Ser. No. 261,037 Claims. (Cl. 160183) This invention relates tofolding screens and more particular-ly to plastic draperies and the likemade of a plurality of hingedly connected panels where each panel ismade of a plurality of plastic modulator units arranged in a column.

In the construction of folding plastic draperies, vertical blinds,screen room dividers and the like, a wide variety of situations areencountered for the use of similar materials for various interiordecorating and utilitarian functions. The different situations wherematerials are desired present many diffcult problems to the designerboth in the size and shape of the curtain to be employed, in theprovision of, or prevention of passage for light and air through thescreen, and in the provision of desired aes thetic effects by thescreen.

While the many ultimate applications for screens of these types requirescreens of many different sizes and with many different characteristics,it is desirable for the screen manufacturer to be able to providescreens for all applications from a minimum number of component parts sothat the manufacturers cost and inventories may be kept withinreasonable limit.

It is an object of this invention to provide folding screens of thesetypes which are adapted for simple manufacture and assembly to fit awide variety of ultimate installations and to satisfy a wide variety ofpurposes and consumer tastes.

It is another object of the invention to provide such folding screenswhich may be assembled in a variety of alternate forms using a minimumnumber of component parts.

It is another object of the invention to provide modular componentswhich may be employed in such screens in different ways in the same anddifferent screens to provide screens of different designs and to providescreens in'which identical modular units may cooperate with each otherand with different modular units in different Ways.

It is another object of the invention to provide such screens in whichidentical components can be assembled in alternate ways either toprovide a screen having light and air transmitting openings therein orto provide a screen which appears to be substantially unvented.

It is another object of the invention to provide such folding screenswhich may be used as window draperies and the like and which may befolded to occupy a relatively small'space. compared to the space theycover when unfolded.

It is another object of the invention to provide such folding screenswhich may be made of a plurality of hingedly connected panels with eachpanel made of a column of modular units and with the adjacent columns ofmodular units connected at a minimum number of points.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description read in conjunction with the attached drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially broken away of a plastic draperyconstructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of the top edge of the drapery of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of alternative forms of draperieswhich may be made from the components of the drapery of FIG. 1;

3,247,391 Patented Apr. 26, 1966 FIG. 5 is a perspective view of aportion of drapery made from the components of the drapery of FIG. 1 butwith the components arranged in a different manner than they arearranged in FIG. 1 to provide air and light transmitting passageways inthe drapery of FIG. 5 where no such passageways are provided in thedrapery of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the drapery of FIG. 5 taken alongthe plane indicated at 66 in FIG. 5,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are horizontal and vertical cross-sectional views of oneof the modular units in FIG. 1 taken along the planes 77 and 88respectively in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of a portion of thedrapery of FIG. 1 showing one of the connectors therein assembled.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and2, the drapery illustrated therein contains four hingedly connectedpanels 10, 12, 14 and 16 with each panel made of a column of plasticmodular units 18 supported on right and left wires 20 and 22respectively with the wires connected to upper and lower hinge pieces 24and 26 respectively.

All of the modular units 18 are substantially identical to each other,and referring to the modular unit 13 in the lower center portion of FIG.1, each modular unit is formed as an integral cast body of plasticmaterial such as polystyrene, having a central web portion 28, oppositeend portions 30 and 32, and upper and lower edges 34 and 36. The endportions 39 and 32 are generally cylindrical and have elongatedpassageways therethrough through which the wires 20 and 22 respectivelyextend and by which the plurality of modular units 18 in the column aremounted together one above the other. The apertures in the end portions36* and 32 thus define a median plane 33 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) of eachmodular unit which will be mounted coplanar with the median planes ofthe other modular units in the panel when the plurality of modular unitsare supported together on one pair of wires 2d and 22. The central web28 of each modular unit is undulating in shape in two directions; thatis, the web portion 28 has right and left halves 38 and 4t respectivelywith the center of the right half 38 deformed rearwardly away from themedian plane while the center of the left portion 40 is deformedforwardly from the median plane. While the center of the right half 38is deformed rearwardly from the median plane, the right half 38 of theweb crosses the median plane so that its upper and lower edges 34, andas lie forwardly of the median plane, and similarly the upper and loweredges of the left half 49 of the web lie rearwardly from the medianplane. In this regard, the web has a horizontal cross-sectional areaperpendicular to the wires 26 and 22 which has the general shape of asine wave the axis of which extends along the median plane of the weband the period of which is 211- (360). The vertical cross-sectional areaof the Web in a plane parallel to the wires 20 and 22 also has thegeneral shape of a sine wave the axis of which extends .along the medianplane of the web and the period of which is 211' starting at 11'/ 2.

It will be noted that the upper and lower edges 34 and 36 of the web aregenerally sinusoidal with the lower edge of one modular unit in FIG. 1contacting the upper edge of the modular unit below it so that the twounits together define a continuous sinusoidal surface which extendsacross both modules. Similarly, the horizontal adjacent modules of thepanel 10-16 define a continuous sinusoidal shape extending from left toright across the drapery with the left half 40 of each module beingconvex as viewed in FIG. 1 and the right half 38 concave. The

upper and lower hinge pieces 24 and 26 have shapes complementary to theshapes of the modular units 18 so that the sinusoidal pattern of thecurtain extends continuously from its upper to its lower edges.

As indicated above, the plurality of modular units 18 in each panel 16is supported on right and left wires 20 and 22; the wires 20 and 22extend through apertures in the upper and lower hinge pieces 24 and 26and conveniently may be deformed above and below these hinge pieces tolock the hinge pieces and the modular units 18 together to form thepanels of the drapery. As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the hingepieces 24 and 26 has a central web portion 42 and right and left endportions 44 and 46 which are aligned respectively with the web 28 andend portions 30 and 32 of the modular unit 18 on which the end portionis mounted. Thus, the end portions 44 and 46 have apertures therethroughwhich receive the wires 20 and 22 andwhich define a median plane of thehinge piece which is coplanar with the the median plane of the modularunit 18 when the two are mounted together. As can be best seen from FIG.2, the hinge pieces 24 and 26 are provided with lateral projections 48thereon through which extend apertures 50 which are parallel to theapertures receiving the wires 28 and 22 but laterally spaced from themedian plane of the hinge pieces by a distance approximately equal tothe thickness of each of the panels 10-16. The lateral projections 48 onthe hinge pieces have a height (measure parallel to the wires 20 and 22)of about half of the height of the hinge piece, and the end portions 46of the hinge pieces also have a height of about half of the height ofthe hinge piece so that the end portion 46 on one hinge piece fits intoalignment with the lateral projection 48 on the hinge piece adjacentthereto with the wire 22 which extends through the end portion 46 alsoextending through the lateral projection 48 and thereby providingpivotal connection between the adjacent panels of the screen. As can beseen in FIG. 2, the end portion 46 of the hinge piece carries a lateralprojection 52 thereon projecting from the same side of the hinge pieceas the lateral projection 48 and positioned to engage the end portion 44of another hinge piece and limit unfolding of the two hinge pieces withrespect to each other. The upper and lower hinge pieces 24 and 26 aresubstantially similar to each other and differ from each other in thetwist or direction of undulation which their surfaces have so that thetwo pieces may have the shapes illustrated in FIG. 1 while bothproviding smooth continuous surfaces between themselves and the modularunits 18 adjacent thereto. It should be noted that the panels 10- 16constructed as described above are pivotally connected together only attheir upper and lower ends; in some installations where the length ofthe panels become quite large, it may be desirable to pivotally connectthe panels together at a few points intermediate of their ends forinstance at about four foot intervals along the lengths of the panels.Such pivotal connection may be accomplished by the use of thin apenturedwafers 54 as shown in FIG. 1 or by the provision of auxiliary means,such as special pivot connectors set into or integrally formed with themodular units 18. A particularly advantageous pivotal connector is shownat 55 in FIG. 1 and illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 9. Theconnector 55 is a body of the same plastic material that the modularunits 18 are made of and is fitted into aligned cut out portions 57 inthe end portions 30 and 32 of the units 18 of adjacent panels '12 and 14with the wires 20 and 22 extending through apertures in the connector;as indicated in FIG. 9, the cut out portion 57 in the end portion 30 hasslot 59 therein which receives an ear 61 on the connector 55 andprevents rotation of the connector 55 with respect to the panel 12;these connectors are particularly desirable in preventing the centerportions of the wires 20 from rotating about the wires 22 in draperieshaving long panels.

When the folding screen is constructed as described above andillustrated in FIG. 1, it may be mounted for overhead suspension as afolding drapery for a Window or the like with a roller unit 56 mountedin a central boss in each of the upper hinge pieces 24, and if desired,the visual effect of the central boss 58 may be carried continuouslyalong the length of each panel in the form of a cylindrical divider 6.0or a portion thereof positioned centrally of the width of each modularunit 18; in this regard, it has been found desirable to employ dividerslike those shown at 6% in FIG. 1 :but having the shape of a hemispherepositioned at the upper or lower edge of the modular unit to provideboth continuity between the shape of the web and the shape of the hingepiece and also to provide continuity between the shapes of two modularunits 18 at their abutting edges.

In the form of drapery shown in FIG. 3, alternate modular units 18 areomitted and replaced by cylindrical spacer members 62 to provide afoldingscreen having very large air and light transmitting passagestherein, and in the form of drapery illustrated in FIG. 4, a similararrangement is employed, but additionally the left hand wire 22 on everyother panel of the screen extends not through the end portion 32 of themodular units in that panel but instead through an aperture extendingalong the cylindrical divider 60 in each modular unit 18 in that panelto provide a vented drapery like that shown in FIG. 3 but in which theopenings are half as large as the openings in the drapery of FIG. 3 andwith the openings in FIG. 4 changing in areas as the drapery is foldedand unfolded.

As pointed out above, each of the modular units 18 has a shape which isundulating in two directions. This shape of the modular unit isparticularly desirable where the horizontal cross-sectional area of themodular unit has the general shape of a sine wave the axis of whichextends along the median plane of the modular unit and the period ofwhich a multiple of 1r where the modular unit also has a verticalcross-sectional area with a general shape of a sine wave and the axis ofwhich lies on the median plane and the period of which is a multiple of1r starting at an odd multiple of 1r/2 with at least one of thesecross-sectional areas having a mid-point located at a 1r/2 position ofthe sine wave which generally defines its shape. With the modular unitconstructed in this fashion, it has a pair of edge portionsperpendicular to the wires 20 and 22 and positioned to provide either avented or an unvented drapery when the modular unit is arranged in oneof two alternative positions on the wire. Thus, as illustrated in FIG.5, the drapery shown therein is constructed from the same modular units18 as the drapery shown in FIG. 1. The drapery in FIG. 5, however, isvented instead of unvented because alternate ones of the modular unitsin each panel have been moved to an alternative position either byrotation through in the plane of its median plane or by turning itupside down to place its edge 34 downwardly and its edge 36 upwardly sothat the sinusoidal edges of adjacent modular units 18 in each panel are180 out of phase with each other and thereby provide vent openingsbetween the modules. Thus, and considering the upper left hand module 18in FIG. 5, the undulating shape of the module provides it with four edgeportions indicated at 64, 66,

p 68 and '76) where the portions 64 and 66 define the upper edge 34 andthe portions 68 and 70 define the lower edge 36. It will be noted thatthe lower edge portions 68 and 70 define vent openings 72 with the upperedge portions of the modular unit 18A immediately below it. The modularunit 18 may, however, be moved to an alternative position in which thevent opening 72 is closed either by mounting the modular unit 18 on thewires after rotation through 180 to bring the edge portion 66 into thegeneral location illustrated for the edge portion 68 or by replacing themodule on the wires after turning it upside down to bring the edgeportion 64 into the general position occupied by the edge portion 68. Itwill be noted that the vented condition of the drapery will not bechanged by replacing the module 18 with the edge portion 70 occupyingthe position of the edge portion 68, but other modular units could beconstructed in which this was possible by forming the module with ahorizontal cross-sectional area in which the mid point was located at a1r/2 position of the sine wave which generally defines its shape forinstance, by providing a module in which the horizontal cross-sectionalarea had the shape of a sine wave whose period was 7r or 31r. Theprovision of modular units in which the sine wave defining thehorizontal cross-sectional area has a period of 21r is quiteadvantageous, however, in' providing desirable aesthetic affects of thescreens and in providing screens in which the concave and convexportions of the screen will nest inea-ch other when the screen is foldedto thereby provide a screen which may be stored in a minimum space whencompletely folded.

When it is desirable as indicated above to pivotally connect adjacentpanels of the screen together at a few points intermediate of theirends, it may be desirable to employ in lieu of the end hinge pieces 24and 26 different hinge pieces which have substantially the same shape asthe modular units 18 differing therefrom in that one of the end portionsof the modular unit extends only half of the length of the module, and alateral projection is provided adjacent to the other end portion similarto the lateral projection 48 on the hinge piece and extending half thelength of the modular unit, that is the hinge piece is constructed withthe same shape as the modular unit and is provided with an end portion46 and lateral projection 48 extending half the length thereof. Hingepieces of this size and shape may be used not only at the upper andlower ends of the panels but also maybe used in horizontal lines acrossthe folding screen to provide auxiliary points of hinge connectionintermediate of the ends of the panels.

While certain specific embodiments of this invention have beenillustrated and described in detail herein, it is obvious that manymodifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A folding screen which comprises a plurality of overlapping elongatedpanels with each panel having generally parallel right and left edgesand upper and lower ends with said edges defining median planes of saidpanel, hinge means connecting said panels together adjacent to theirupper ends and adjacent to their lower ends for pivotal movement aboutfirst and second pivotal axes on each panel with said first axisextending along said medium plane adjacent to one of said edges and withsaid second axis extending generally parallel to said plane and adjacentto the other one of said edges but positioned laterally from said planeand inwardly of the width of said panel from said other one of saidedges, the second axes on adjacent panels being spaced on opposite sidesof the medium planes of said adjacent panels.

2.The folding screen of claim 1 in which each of said panels comprises acolumn of modular units with each modular unit having right and left endportions extending along said right and left edges of said panel and apair of connecting wires extending along said median plane of said panelthrough said end portions of said modular units, and hinge pieces aremounted on each of said panels adjacent to its upper and lower ends witheach hinge piece connected to the two wires of the panel on which it ismounted and connected to one of the wires of a panel adjacent to thepanel on which it is mounted.

3. The folding screen of claim 2 characterized further by the inclusionof a plurality of auxiliary pivot connectors positioned along the lengthof said panels and having opposite ends pivotally connected to theadjacent ones of said wires on adjacent panels.

4. The folding screen of claim 3 characterized further in that saidauxiliary pivot connectors have locking means thereon engaging a modularunit adjacent thereto in one of said panels for preventing rotationalmovement of said connector with respect to said one panel.

5. The folding screen of claim 2 characterized further in that each ofthe modular units in each of said panels comprises a web having oppositeend portions through which the wires of said panel extend and a pair ofparallel edge portions extending perpendicular to said wires with saidend portions being removably mounted on said wires for mounting saidmodular unit in two alternative positions on said wires in whichalternative ones of said two edge portions are positioned adjacent to apredetermined one of said edge portions of another modular unit in saidpanel, said two edge portions of said modular unit having substantiallyidentical and symmertical shapes and being laterally spaced from saidmedian plane asymmetrically with respect to each other to be positionedadjacent to saidpredetermined edge portion of said other modular unitwith one of said two edge portions of said modular unit in one of saidalternative positions positioned on the opposite side of said medianplane from said predetermined edge portion and with the other of saidtwo edge portions of said modular unit in the other of said alternativepositions positioned on the same side of said median plane as, and inengagement with, said predetermined edge portion.

6. The folding screen of claim 5 in which each of said modular units hasa horizontal cross-sectional area perpendicular to said wires which hasthe general shape of a sine wave, the axis of which extends along saidmedian plane and the period of which is a multiple of r; each of saidmodular units also has a vertical crosssecti-onal area parallel to saidwires which has the general shape of a sine wave the axis of whichextends along said median plane and the period of which is a multiple of1r starting at an odd multiple of vr/Z, and at least one of saidcross-sectional areas has a mid-point which is located at a 1r/2position of the sine wave which generally defines its shape.

7. A modular unit adapted to form one of a plurality of identical unitsarranged in a column which together define a panel of a folding screenwhich comprises: a web having a median plane, a pair of opposed endportions, a pair of parallel edge portions extending perpendicular tosaid end portions, and mounting means on each of said end portionsextending along said median plane for mounting two of said modular unitstogether with their median planes coplanar in two alternative positionsin which alternative ones of said two edge portions of one modular unitare positioned adjacent to a predetermined one ofsaid edge portions ofthe other modular unit, said two edge portions of said modular unithaving substantially identical and symmetrical shapes and beinglaterally spaced from said median plane asymmetrically with respect toeach other to be positioned adjacent to said predetermined edge portionof said other modular unit with one of said two edge portions of saidmodular unit in one of said alternative positions positioned on theopposite side of said median plane from said predetermined edge portionand with the other of said two edge portions of said modular unit in theother of said alternative positions positioned on the same side of saidmedian plane as, and in engagement with, said predetermined edgeportion.

8. The modular unit of claim 7 in which said web has a horizontalcross-sectional area perpendicular to said end portions which has thegeneral shape of a sine wave, the .axis of which extends along saidmedian plane and the period of which is a multiple of r; said web has avertical cross-sectional area parallel to said end portions which hasthe general shape of a sine wave, the axis of which extends along saidmedian plane and the period of which is a multiple of 7r starting at anodd multiple of 7T/2, and one of said cross-sectional shapes has amidpoint located at a 77/2 position of the sine wave which generallydefines its shape.

9. The modular unit of claim 7 in which said two edge portions of saidweb are positioned on opposite sides of said web and adjacent toopposite end portions of said web, and said two edge portions lie onopposite sides of said median plane.

10. The modular unit of claim 7 in which said two edge portions of saidweb are positioned on opposite sides of said web and adjacent to thesame one of said edge portions of said web, and said two edge portionslie on the same side of said median plane.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Rudolph 160229Fritz 160118 Bertram 160135 Morelli 160183 Zelov 160352 Piana 160229 DeBorger 160229 Worrell 160135 Hirashiki 160229 Sullivan 160229 Baer16-128 Johnson 16128 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

1. A FOLDING SCREEN WHICH COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF OVERLAPPING ELONGATEDPANELS WITH EACH PANEL HAVING GENERALLY PARALLEL RIGHT AND LEFT EDGESAND UPPER AND LOWER ENDS WITH SAID EDGES DEFINING MEDIAN PLANES OF SAIDPANEL, HINGE MEANS CONNECTING SAID PANELS TOGETHER ADJACENT TO THEIRUPPER ENDS AND ADJACENT TO THEIR LOWER ENDS FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUTFIRST AND SECOND PIVOTAL AXES ON EACH PANEL WITH SAID FIRST AXISEXTENDING ALONG SAID MEDIUM PLANE ADJACENT TO ONE OF SAID EDGES AND WITHSAID SECOND AXIS EXTENDING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLANE AND ADJACENTTO THE OTHER ONE OF SAID EDGES BUT POSITIONED LATERALLY FROM SAID PLANEAND INWARDLY OF THE WIDTH OF SAID PANEL FROM SAID OTHER ONE OF SAIDEDGES, THE SECOND AXES ON ADJACENT PANELS BEING SPACED ON OPPOSITE SIDESOF THE MEDIUM PLANES OF SAID ADJACENT PANELS.